1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method and a shaping roll apparatus for a corrugated fin, which serves as a heat exchange mechanism incorporated in a heat exchanger of, e.g., a heating or cooling apparatus, and adapted to transfer heat of heating or cooling medium to air or some other medium to be heated or cooled.
2. Description of the Related Art
A corrugated fin is manufactured by feeding an elongated fin material at constant speed and shaping the fin material into a corrugated configuration by means of a pair of rollers.
FIG. 14 shows an arrangement of a shaping apparatus for manufacturing a corrugated fin of this type. An elongated fin material 11 is composed of a thin sheet of aluminum or copper material, for example. The fin material 11 is stored wound around an uncoiler 12. The material 11 on the uncoiler 12 is supplied between a pair of tension rollers 131 and 132, which serve to apply a fixed tension to a shaping section on the output side thereof.
The shaping section comprises a first shaping roll 14 on the upper side and a second shaping roll 15 on the lower side. The fin material 11 is fed between the paired rolls 14 and 15, and is drawn out as the rolls rotate. As the material 11 passes between the rolls 14 and 15, it is shaped into a corrugated fin by means of shaping molds formed on the respective outer peripheral surfaces of the rolls 14 and 15. The material 11, delivered from the shaping section formed of the rolls 14 and 15, is fed to a fin pitch reducing section 16, whereupon a shaped fin 17 is obtained.
The first and second shaping rolls 14 and 15 are provided with drive shafts 18 and 19, respectively, and are separately rotated by means of motors (not shown). The fin material 11 is bent into a continuous corrugated configuration, extending along the longitudinal direction thereof, by means of toothed shaping molds formed individually on the respective outer peripheral surfaces of the rolls 14 and 15.